Introduction

Photo courtesy of flikr.com/creativecommons

When thinking of working out, there is a typical scenario that comes to mind: you walk into a large building and check in with some sort of membership card. A spacious, well lit room is lined with strangers using whirring cardio machines facing a wall of TV’s. In another section of the gym comes the sound of free weights clacking together and intimidating grunts. In a final space stretchy people are performing ab or doing kinesthetics.

This is what 58.5 million Americans do see, from recent statistics of the International Health, Racquet and Sports club Association (IHRSA). The database also reports that since 2008 to 2013, health club memberships rose about 10 percent.

But there is another type of gym that is not as typical. An approach to fitness that is not dependant on technology but on basic movement. Enterprises like yoga CrossFit, MoveNat, have been dubbed just about the cutest name ever: ‘boutiques’. But these small, specialized studios empty of technology provide the next big thing in fitness: results.

Photo courtesy of myhometone.com

It is my thesis that supply and demand for a new model of fitness is determined by technology. Technology is shaping the fitness industry, and a great divide has users either feeling enabled or disabled.  An elliptical is no longer just an elliptical. Settings plug users into programmed workouts that have names like “rolling hills” and even virtual nature realities users can enter while they complete their workout. A user can be “hiking the Oregon trail” while monitoring their heart rate and calories expended.

We’re going to hear the voice of two enterprises in this triangle- one that has been around forever but with updated gadgets- the commercial gym. The next is still in it’s infancy but uses primal movement and no technology. Finally, we will look at a third model for fitness that is completely utilizing the free connections and resources technology brings us.

See you on the other side,

-MissFit